Policeman, accused of killing Odisha minister, not mentally ill: Medical report
Bhubaneswar, Mar 7: The policeman accused of killing Odisha minister Naba Kishore Das is not mentally ill, a court in Jharsuguda district said, quoting a report of the medical board that examined him.
Rejecting a plea of the Crime Branch for the mental evaluation of Gopal Das at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru, the court of the additional district judge made public the observation of the medical board that submitted its report on February 5.
"The person is conscious, alert, cooperative and communicative. He is well groomed with eye-to-eye contact. Rapport is established. Mood and affect -- appropriate to the situation," the medical board said in its report.
"Speech is relevant, coherent and goal-directed. Thought content -- no abnormality; perception -- no abnormality; orientation -- intact; memory -- immediate, recent, remote all intact; judgment -- intact; intelligence -- average, abstract thinking -- intact, insight present," it said.
The court said in its March 3 observation that nowhere in the medical board's report the accused was found to be suffering from mental illness.
The medical board was constituted by the government with doctor Ajay Mishra, the HoD of Psychiatry at the SCB Medical College and Hospital, as its chairman to examine Das, who allegedly shot dead the minister on January 29.
"...the prayer made by the IO (investigating officer) for further psychological examination of the accused would be redundant. However, for the said examination, accused cannot be shifted to NIMHANS," the court said.
The medical report was shot in the arm for the BJP, which has been claiming that the state was falsely trying to prove that the accused was mentally disabled to conceal a larger conspiracy involved in the murder.
"There is a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the murder of Naba Das," Leader of Opposition Jayanarayan Mishra said, alleging that the police do not want to find who gave the contract of killing the minister to the assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police, and the motive behind it.
The person who gave the contract for killing assured the accused that no action will be taken against him, Mishra claimed.
"Therefore efforts were made to prove him mentally unsound," he said.
Rejecting the allegation, BJD MLA SB Behera said it was a medical board constituted by the state government that gave the report.
"How was the state government protecting the accused? The state government's medical board has given the report. It proves the transparency in the investigation," he said.
Congress legislative party leader Narasingha Mishra claimed there was a personal enmity behind the murder.
"Gopal Das had approached Naba Das for a job for his niece. Something might have transpired during those meetings. Things will become clear if Gopal's niece is questioned," Mishra told reporters.
The minister was shot dead at Brajarajnagar in Jharsuguda district when he went to the area for a programme.
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Cong says Modi 'has lost authority to continue as PM', cites Ram Madhav's remarks on oil, tariffs
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday said Narendra Modi has lost his authority to continue as the prime minister, claiming that a senior RSS leader has made a "clear admission" that Modi is "dancing to Washington's tunes".
Congress general secretary, Organisation, K C Venugopal shared a video of RSS leader Ram Madhav on X where the latter says that India agreed to stop buying oil from Iran and Russia and also agreed to higher tariffs imposed by the US.
Madhav, however, later apologised saying what he said was "wrong as India did not agree to stop import of oil from Russia. "What I said was wrong. India didn't agree to stopping import of oil from Russia anytime."
"Also it vigorously protested 50 per cent tariff imposition. I was trying to make a limited counterpoint to the other panellist. But factually incorrect. My apologies," Madhav said in a post on X while sharing his video.
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Madhav along with RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale are on a visit to the United States and attended an event at the Hudson Institute in Washington.
In a post on X, Venugopal said, "Clear admission by a senior RSS leader - PM Modi is dancing to Washington's tunes.
"There was once a time when the US' 7th Fleet was in the Bay of Bengal, and India didn't budge. And then there is today, where a Compromised PM has handed over India's sovereignty to the US," Venugopal said in a post on X.
The Congress leader said this is exactly what Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and the entire Opposition has been saying. "India has lost its independent voice on the world stage.
"After this surrender, it's clear that Narendra Modi has lost his authority to continue as Prime Minister," Venugopal said in his post.
In the video shared by Venugopal along with his post, Ram Madhav is heard saying, "India agreed to stop buying oil from Iran. We agreed to stop buying oil from Russia, facing so much criticism from our Indian opposition."
"We agreed to a 50 per cent tariff...Agreed means, we did not say anything. We maintained our patience. 50 per cent tariffs we agreed. Today, in the new trade deal also we agreed for 18 per cent tariffs higher than what it used to be.... I mean, average tariff.
"So, where is India lagging behind in that. What are those issues where India is not doing enough?" Madhav is heard saying in the video during an interactive session at the Hudson Institute.
